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It felt weird to be standing outside Astro’s door like this. Sprout glanced uneasily at the rainbow-colored clock that hung on the wall, noting the time. 2:08 a.m. He shuffled from side to side, leaning against the wall. He didn’t want to be here, but it was the only thing he could think of that could help him go back to sleep. He only hoped that Astro wouldn’t be too annoyed with him. It’s not like this was inherently new, Astro used to help him fall asleep all the time as kids. Although…it's been a while.
Sprout huffed and pulled his scarf closer up to his face as his cheeks warmed up. Why is he overthinking it so much? It’s just a simple question. A plain request. It’s not anything that should be making him this nervous. He looked back at the clock, wondering if he should just give up and go back to his room. Despite his struggle with staying asleep, he could feel exhaustion settling into his body. The last couple runs haven’t exactly been the kindest to him, especially with the frequency of them getting worse and worse. When is Dandy going to loosen up on everyone? Sprout rapidly blinked away his anxious thoughts as he straightened up. He should at least try to knock, and if Astro doesn’t respond, then he’ll go back to his room.
He turned to face the door, grimacing slightly as he reached out and softly knocked. His knuckles hovered against the wood as seconds passed with no answer. Should he knock louder this time? No, he needs to just give up and go back-
Sprout took a step back in surprise as the door swung open, blue sparkles of light casting a small glow against its wooden frame. The room was completely dark except for the additional blue glow emitted from Astro himself, who was squinting at Sprout with curiosity.
“Sprout? Hmm…that’s why you weren’t dreaming…” The moon murmured, his voice low. Sprout smiled bashfully, quickly folding his arms together to play off his embarrassment.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” He asked, making sure to keep his voice quiet as he looked towards Astro.
The other toon shook his head slowly, a kind smile falling onto his face. “No, I was already awake doing, uhm, dream things.” He trailed off, pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders. “...Did you need something?”
“Oh, uh…” Sprout let out an awkward cough as he realized that he was actually going to have to commit to this. “Well, I kind of couldn’t sleep, and I was wondering if you could maybe help? Since you used to when we were….little.” The strawberry toon gave him a nervous smile, already regretting his decision. He watched as Astro closed his eye for a couple of seconds, not saying anything. Sprout could feel his face heat up as his mouth began moving on its own. “You don’t have to if it’s too weird- I’ll be fine, I mean it’s not like I haven’t gone through it before-”
“Come in.” Astro spoke, cutting off Sprout’s rambling as he opened the door wider. The strawberry toon pressed his lips together, nodding quickly as he slipped into Astro’s room. He glanced up at the ceiling as he stepped in, admiring the realistic cosmos and constellations that spread across it. Astro’s room was always an architectural wonder to him, especially with how massive it seemed. He became increasingly aware of how dark it was as well, when the door closed softly behind him. The only light came from Astro’s natural glow and the artificial stars. Sprout glanced at Astro as the toon passed him, taking strides towards the bed. He quickly stepped up his pace to follow him, trying to ignore how nerve-wracking this all felt. He hadn’t been alone with Astro like this in a while, and he didn’t exactly know what to say; or if he should say anything at all. It was still very late, it was probably better if he didn’t try to start meaningless small talk. He sat down on the edge of the bed, exhaling harshly. He could feel Astro’s gaze fall on him as the moon sunk into the middle of the bed.
“Do you usually wear your scarf to bed?” Astro asked, amused curiosity lacing his tone.
Sprout blushed profusely at the question, mumbling under his breath and reaching up to pull on his scarf.
“No..” He coughed, pulling the long scarf off and leaving it on the foot of the bed. He could hear Astro laugh softly and puffed his cheeks out. How embarrassing. His hand now found the edge of his shirt collar, tugging on it out of habit. “Should I lay down too?”
“Unless you like to sleep sitting up.” The moon toon said jokingly, resting comfortably against the mountain of pillows behind him. Sprout couldn’t fight the small smile that formed and scooted closer to the middle of the bed, hesitantly laying down a couple inches away.
“Is this fine?” The strawberry toon asked after a moment of silence, still avoiding the other’s gaze as he chose to stare up at the faux night sky. He waited patiently for a response, but there was only silence from his side. Did Astro already fall asleep? Sprout bit back a sigh and rolled to his left, checking to see if the toon was asleep or not. He was confused to find that Astro was just silently staring at him, almost like he was caught in his own world.
“..Sorry.” Astro whispered, almost too quiet to hear. He didn’t sound very apologetic though, and it made Sprout’s heart race.
“It’s alright.” Sprout flashed him a small, reassuring smile, trying to ignore how tense the room was starting to feel. Or was it just him being the tense one? Astro was always a hard toon to read, perhaps Sprout was just overthinking things...again. He decided to ask once more, now that Astro was listening. “Am I too close?”
“No, you’re fine….Uh, come closer, maybe?” The moon responded, his stare flickering from Sprout’s face to his blanket. Sprout swallowed dryly and scooted even closer, blinking to let his eyes adjust to Astro’s warm glow. Astro smiled at him nervously before reaching out with his arms and pulling the strawberry toon into an embrace, his purple blanket wrapping comfortably around the both of them. Sprout let himself be entangled with the other’s limbs, his head pressed against his collarbone. He could feel the fast thudding of Astro’s heart, and he couldn’t help but let himself think that perhaps it was because of their intimate proximity.
As soon as Astro started to softly hum into the silence of the room, Sprout could feel his body finally relax. He focused his mind on the vibrations coming from Astro’s chest, and the warmth of their hug. It felt a bit awkward not saying anything, not even a thanks, but he couldn’t bring himself to ruin the quiet moment. It was nice, slow, and gentle, which Sprout hadn’t experienced in a while. An escape from the chaos he usually has to deal with.
One of Astro’s hands touched his head gently, running its fingers through the thick leaves. Sprout let out a content sigh at the motion, pressing his face further against the moon toon’s chest. His eyelids drooped with drowsiness as he slinked his arms around the other’s waist, squeezing his frame slightly. He could hear Astro’s humming stutter for a second before aligning back into his normal rhythm. The cute reaction made Sprout smile to himself as his mind slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.